A strange and beautiful tale of its own design

“Fantasy” would be too weak a word to describe Kathryn Davis’s transgressions against realistic storytelling in her seventh novel, Duplex. “Horror” would miss the point of her sustained assaults against any semblance of normal or peaceable life. Neither would “surrealism” do the trick, for her page-by-page devastations of the reader’s expectations...

The rhythms of life

Welcome to Varennes, where a young girl can bring the dead back to life and dogs and cats have strong opinions. In this new novel by prize-winning author Kathryn Davis, a New England village is beset by tragedy, affairs of the heart (and body) and the banal trappings of everyday life. Davis' revealing narrative takes us from one character to the next through shifting voices, including those of...